“I see what you mean.” He frowned. “We’ll have to look in all the obvious places. Braxus isn’t capable of traveling very far, so I doubt they’ve left the castle.”
“You know Braxus. Where’s the most likely place for him to be?”
“Normally, he confines himself to his living quarters or the book depository, which is just next to his rooms. Only rarely does he appear in public places.”
“Then we should start there.”
In front, Durtran slowed. “The stairs are just ahead. They’re dirty, narrow and steep. We’ll have to go single file, so watch your step. They let out on the level directly under the castle. From there, it’s not far to another set of stairs that come out in a storage room near the kitchens.”
Silently we went up the stairs, holding our lamps high to illuminate the treacherous steps. Durtran was right, the dirt was thick and choking here, puffing into the air with each movement we made. I drew in a relieved breath of clean oxygen as soon as we stepped out into a small room.
There was only one entrance and we followed Durtran through it, turning left when we were clear. He headed straight to another room and waited until we were all with him. “Almost there. I should warn you, if we meet any of the troops there may be trouble. Braxus has declared you both fugitives, although I now know he isn’t expecting you to be captured.”
“No, he isn’t. They wanted us to die in that room. He just needed someone to blame so suspicion wouldn’t fall on him. I imagine after some time passed and no one found us, he’d say we escaped on my ship.”
I thought for a second. “Reynard, Bim, put your weapons away,” I told them, sheathing my own knife. “If we run into anyone, Durtran can say he’s captured us and is taking us to Braxus.”
“No offense to Durtran,” Reynard said. “But none of my soldiers will believe he overpowered the three of us.”
I shrugged. “So we turned ourselves in after we got lost in the underground passages. I’d rather give it a shot than have to kill men who are only doing what they’ve been ordered to do.”
The commander gave a curt nod and slid his sword back into its scabbard as Bim did the same with his axe. “As would I. Let’s see if it works.” He gestured and Durtran turned into the room.
Again, we followed Durtran and stepped out of a small storage room just outside the kitchen. Two weepy-eyed women gaped at the commander, then dipped in a curtsey before walking into the kitchen.
I watched them go, concerned they might sound an alarm, but both simply went to work cooking and ignored us.
“Lillith?” I subvocalized hesitantly, wondering if I would be able to contact the ship now.
“Echo! I heard what you told Marcus and was on the verge of coming to free you myself.”
A wave of relief swept over me at her voice. “I handled it. But I need to know Marcus is safe.”
“He is. Lowden’s men freed them. They’re locked inside the Terpsichore holding off the rest of the troops. And two Federation destroyers have arrived. They’re in orbit around Madrea. If Strand tries to take off, they’ll have him.”
“Excellent. Now I have work to do. Which way to Braxus’s quarters?” I asked Reynard.
“This way.” Reynard took off at a fast, quiet run. “It’s on the other side of the castle.”
We were halfway down the carpeted expanse when I felt the first trickle of power. It slammed into me with the force of a meteor and sent me staggering to my knees. Above my head, Peri circled frantically, screaming in anger as her eyes went blood red.
“Echo!” Reynard dropped down beside me, fear lining his face, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t react to his concern yet.
Holy Zin! They were releasing the Sumantti. But the action was hesitant, like someone had opened the stasis box a crack and then slammed it closed again.
For freedom to be so close, only to have it wrenched away, was more than the crystal could stand. I sensed her rage growing, felt her struggling to free herself. And she was too fragging close to figuring out the stasis field. If they didn’t release her, she would explode out on her own. Either way would be disastrous.
Peri darted back and forth in agitation as I clutched the commander’s arm. “They’re releasing the crystal. We have to hurry.”
He stood and pulled me to my feet, supporting me until I found my balance, while Durtran shifted restlessly in front of us, his gaze constantly scanning the hall for danger. Bim had loosened his axe and moved up to stand on my other side, but even he looked worried.
“How much farther?” I gasped.
“If we run, not long,” Reynard told me. “The end of the hall, turn right, and it’s four doors down.”
Peri took off, zooming down the hall so fast you could barely see her wings moving, then hovered and chattered encouragement as we chased after her.
We were almost at the end of the corridor when three soldiers stepped out of a room directly into our path. Reynard’s sword was in his hand in a blur of movement, but Durtran didn’t give him a chance to use it.
“To me!” he yelled.
Immediately the men came to attention, drew their weapons and fell in with our group, no questions asked. As one, we thundered around the corner.
I’d barely taken two steps when the full blast of an enraged Sumantti hit me. Grinding my teeth together, I forced myself onward even as I instinctively pulled out the Imadei and closed my fist around it.
No! I sent. Don’t do this. I’m almost there. I can help you.
She shoved me away so hard it nearly took my head off, and I closed my eyes in reaction to the pain. Instead of slowing, Bim took my left arm on one side and Reynard took the right. Together, they hustled me toward a door that I could feel bending outward from the power filling the room. Somewhere nearby, I could hear Peri’s frantic calls and they made enough of an impression that I opened my eyes again to look for her.
She hovered just this side of the door, beating the men in front of me with her wings as she tried to drive them back.
“Stop!” I screamed, catching the same thing she’d picked up on. The group ground to a halt a split second before the wooden door exploded into a million splinters.
Power poured from the opening, sweeping Strand’s men into the hall ahead of it. Around us, the stone walls of the castle trembled and shook, cracks forming that looked like twisted trees.
The shouts of the men were muffled by the roar of displaced air as they engaged Strand’s contingent in battle just beyond the tornadic surges of power that pounded the far wall. Peri joined them, diving to attack, and then soaring back to the ceiling, wings spread, riding the gusts of energy like they were there for her benefit.
I saw Reynard engage two men at once, his sword flashing with effortless grace. At his back, Bim wielded his axe with more power than technique. Part of me wanted to assist in the battle, but there was no time. I had to get inside that room.
Doing my best to ignore the fight, I put one foot in front of the other, leaning into the gale emitted by the Sumantti. It took all my strength to move through the surging power, and I knew I’d never make it to the enraged crystal in time to stop it from destroying the solar system.
Use the Imadei!
The voice that sounded in my mind had a doubled quality, as though two people were speaking with one voice, but it was a voice I recognized.
Kiera?
Use the Imadei! Her voice came again, transmitted by the Mother Stone. Hurry! We’ll feed you all the power we can.
I don’t know how!
There was a sudden twisting sensation inside my head as if a final link had clicked into place.
Now! Kiera’s voice was so loud and frantic I could barely grasp the words. Before it’s too late!
Pushing aside my terror, I reached for the small crystal with my mind in a way I’d never done before, and I felt a brief lull in the maelstrom. More determined now, I delved deeper into the stone, mentally pulled it around me like a cloak.
&nbs
p; Abruptly, I could move again, even though I could see that both the storm and the battle still raged around me. It was as if I were enclosed in a thin black crystalline bubble of stillness that protected me from the Daughter Stone’s power. And all throughout the crystal I could sense the DNA of psynaviats, the alien creatures that inhabited it.
Good. Kiera’s voice was marginally calmer. Go to the Daughter Stone and put your hands on her.
Easily now, I moved forward, went through the door into Braxus’s quarters, then stopped to get my bearings.
Gaia stood in the center of the room, her hands clamped bloodlessly to the Sumantti, her face a rictus of pain. She seemed to glow with an unnatural black light as her long red-gold hair whipped around her.
But I could see that her pain-glazed eyes were locked on Losif Strand. He stood across the room, one hand buried in Banca’s hair to pull her head back, a knife to her exposed throat.
When he saw me, he grinned and tightened his grip, but if he spoke, I didn’t hear him. I was suddenly too focused on Banca to pay attention to the man holding her.
For the first time, the child’s face was showing emotion. But it wasn’t the fear you’d expect. No, her face was suffused with intense pleasure. Like a child in a candy store, there was no mistaking her glee.
Paying no attention to the knife at her throat, she laughed and clapped her hands before reaching out for the Sumantti.
And slowly, the Sumantti’s cataclysmic power reversed direction, seemingly against its will, the beams fluctuating wildly as its focus narrowed and aimed right at the child Strand held. And instead of disintegrating, she drank it in at an astonishing rate and reached for more.
Holy Zin. The child was some kind of psychic vampire.
I felt more than heard Gaia scream. It yanked me out of my shock, and I gathered the force of the Imadei, prepared to launch a defense against the Sumantti that would save not only the girl, but Madrea.
But before I could act, Braxus hobbled toward the crystal, his bent body mostly hidden by his loose robe. With one twisted hand he reached toward Gaia. “Heal me!” he screeched. “It is my right to rule!”
“Naw!” It was Banca who shrieked in denial, as if she had no intention of sharing the Sumantti’s power. She made a slapping motion with one hand. Even though she hit nothing but air, Braxus was lifted and shaken like an empty sack before he was flung against a wall. He slid lifelessly to the floor and lay still.
But her motion had yanked the knife Strand held away from her throat and pushed him to the side. He stumbled and went down while the thin line of blood left on Banca’s throat closed up and vanished as if she’d never been cut.
With a look of distaste aimed at the girl he’d held hostage, Strand scrabbled backward away from her, his knuckles white on the knife hilt he still grasped defensively.
Okay, enough was enough. I couldn’t wait any longer.
As soon as I moved toward Gaia, Banca’s attention refocused on me. She stood frozen in place, her face twisted with rage as she batted at me from across the room. But unlike Braxus, I was prepared for her move and I had the Imadei to protect me.
That didn’t mean I didn’t feel it, though. I winced at the power that leaked into my insular world, then fought it off and kept going.
She struck out harder, pounding me with the force she wielded, the power she stole from the Sumantti, and a crack opened in my shield. Ignoring everything else, I fought to close it without effect even as I continued forward.
You can do it, Kiera’s voice encouraged. Don’t give up.
With renewed determination, I pushed on. I’d almost reached Gaia when Peri darted by me, seemingly unaffected by the power fluctuating in the room. With a scream of rage, eyes blood red, she dived at Strand, digging her talons deep into his face.
Somehow, the leader of Helios One had fought his way to his feet and was pushing toward me, his knife now aimed in my direction.
Fear washed through me, breaking my concentration and giving Banca a chance to widen the crack in my shield. Fear, not for myself but for Peri as she dodged Strand’s knife and swooped to attack again. How could one lone dragon bird hold off a seasoned fighter armed with a long knife?
She couldn’t, and if I went to help her, Banca would win.
The thought barely went through my mind when Reynard charged by me, a feral grin on his chiseled face as he engaged Strand.
Trusting him to handle the situation, I plowed my way through Banca’s resistance to Gaia, reached down and covered her hands with mine, at the same time expanding the bubble of protection so it enveloped her and the Sumantti.
Or at least I tried to cover the Sumantti. But no matter how hard I struggled to close it, Banca kept a pathway open to the stone, using the crack she’d made in my shield to drain power. We fought for dominance until I was ready to collapse from exhaustion, while the child just kept getting stronger.
Abruptly, Peri left off her attack of Strand and turned her attentions to Banca. Somehow, she cut through the flow of power like it wasn’t even there and reached for the girl’s face with all four feet.
It wasn’t much, but it diverted Banca just enough to allow me time to begin mentally closing the breach in my shield. I’d almost succeeded when, from outside, I felt a dramatic increase in the energy flowing into me, and knew the Mother Stone was helping.
Stop this, I commanded the Sumantti. As long as you fight, she’ll continue to drain your power. You have to stop.
She heard me. I could even feel her attempts to obey. But Banca wouldn’t let the stone go, wouldn’t let me completely close the crack. Swatting Peri away with one hand, she refocused on the opening in my shield, keeping it open with the power she was draining. Even as I poured my strength and the Limantti’s through the Daughter Stone, the child sucked it in. The more the Sumantti struggled, the more power Banca drained from the stone.
Inside the crystal I could sense the tiny Psynaviats dying, their DNA winking from my consciousness like stars gone nova as the life force left them. Pain screamed from the rest, sending me into another panic.
And it wasn’t just them. I had become a conduit to the Mother Stone on Orpheus Two. She, too, was feeling the strain as Banca drained away their energy, and still Banca drank it in and reached for more.
Help them! Kiera screamed in my mind. She’s killing them!
I reacted without plan, without reason, without thought. Running on pure instinct, I reached into the crystal with my psi ability and made a minute change in the DNA of the alien life forms. When it was complete, I forced them out of their environment and into Gaia through her hands.
The flow of power cut off instantly as the last of the psynaviats left the stone. It was as if someone had thrown a switch and all around us went still and silent. Gaia collapsed into my arms, her eyes closed and so still I thought I’d killed her. But when I checked, she wasn’t dead, just unconscious. The alien life flowed in her body, confused by its new home. And yet, already it was slowly regaining its strength.
At the same time, the Mother Stone withdrew to ponder what had just happened. Her puzzlement left a lingering aftereffect in my mind. I couldn’t help her, because I had no idea how I’d done what I’d done. I was simply grateful it worked.
The ringing of metal on metal drew my attention, and I turned to see Reynard parry a thrust from Strand’s knife. Before I could go into overdrive, Reynard spun, slid his sword under Strand’s partially raised arm, and impaled him through the chest.
Gently, I placed Gaia on the floor and then moved to stand beside Reynard as he stared down at Strand. The leader of Helios One lay sprawled on the floor, one hand gripping the shaft of Reynard’s sword where it was buried in his body. His breath came in labored puffs and hate gleamed in his eyes.
“Bitch.”
The word was barely a whisper and I arched a brow, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was glaring at Banca.
The crystal still sat on the table, but now it was nothing but a b
ig piece of quartz. Over the top of the stone, Banca stared at me, her eyes blank, no expression on her face.
It was hard to believe she was the same child I’d battled a few moments before, and I wasn’t sure what to do about her. She looked so damn innocent when she wasn’t trying to kill you.
The sounds of battle in the hall behind me died away, and Durtran and Bim charged into the room. I held up a hand as they flanked us.
“It’s over, Strand,” I told him. “You lost. Any last words?”
With a shudder, Strand released his grip on the sword, blood pouring in a steady stream from the wound, his face white. “That child is a monster. You should kill her now, while you have the chance. She sucked the life force from two of my men while we were holding her. But I suppose she’s the Federation’s problem now.” He gave one last gasp and went limp, his eyes fixed and unmoving.
Reynard leaned down and checked for a pulse on the man’s neck before pulling his sword free. “He’s dead.”
With a sigh, I turned to Durtran. “Did you kill all his men?”
“No, some of them threw down their weapons. Those we took into custody.”
“Good. They’ll do nicely as witnesses against Strand’s cohorts in the Federation. Lillith?”
“On my way.”
“Land as close to the castle as possible. I need to get Gaia into sick bay. I have no idea what the psynaviats are doing to her.”
“What about the other one?”
I glanced at Banca. She hadn’t moved since I’d rendered the Daughter Stone inert. “We’ll have to take her, too. She shouldn’t be dangerous for a while. She fed well today. Prepare a room where she can be restrained for now,” I told the ship, disgust tingeing my tone. “Maybe Dr. Shilly will know what to do with her. In the meantime, we’ve got some mopping up to do here on Madrea and time is wasting.”
From the size of the crowd surrounding Lillith all of Bastion City and the Bashalde were present to see us off. It had been a busy few months since Strand had died and the remaining crewmembers had taken his ship and fled. Fortunately, they were successfully nabbed by the Federation before they could clear Madrea’s gravitational field.